Miami Hurricanes greatest catcher? Charles Johnson or Yasmani Grandal

Is Yasmani Grandal the best catcher in UM history?
Fans of Charles Johnson (and, maybe, those of Jorge Fabregas) will surely disagree, but a case can be made for Grandal, who enters tonight’s game against North Carolina second among ACC hitters with a .414 average.

Yasmani Grandal is expected to be a No. 1 pick in June.

Comparing raw numbers isn’t entirely fair. Johnson (1990-92) played in 191 career games. Grandal, a junior who has started 126 of the 130 games he’s played in, won’t come close to competing in that many games.

But project the numbers out and Grandal’s are better than those of Johnson, who played 13 major league seasons, including two stints with the Marlins. At UM, Johnson had a .325 batting average with 38 home runs and 153 RBI. Grandal is averaging .314 and has 30 homers and 110 RBI. Projected over the 190 games Johnson played, Grandal would finish with 43 homers and 160 RBI.

Let’s not forget that Grandal has played his collegiate career in the ACC, without question the game’s toughest conference. Johnson played when UM was an independent and 90 percent of the team’s games were played at home.

Like Johnson, who was picked with the 28th overall choice in the 1992 draft, Grandal is expected to be a first-round selection in June.

Ask the modest Grandal and he’ll tell you the comparisons with Johnson are flattering but unwarranted.

“To be compared to a guy like that, it’s amazing,” Grandal said. “Just being compared to him is a great feeling. But I would choose him [as UM’s best catcher].”

Without question, Johnson had a fabulous career with the Hurricanes. But Johnson never had the kind of season that Grandal is now enjoying.

Besides ranking second in the ACC in batting average, Grandal is also second in hits (53), third in on-base percentage (.516), fourth in doubles (13) and sixth in slugging percentage (.695). Against ACC competition, Grandal is batting a league-high .476. That’s 41 points higher that the second-leading batter (Georgia Tech’s Thomas Nichols) against conference pitching. Grandal was named the ACC’s Player of the Week on Monday after going 11-for-20 with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs in five games last week.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Grandal has performed spectacularly despite the pressures of the upcoming draft. He was drafted out of Miami Springs High School in the 27th round by the Boston Red Sox in 2007 when he was ranked as the nation’s 19th-best prospect by Baseball America.

“The first time I saw him I said, ‘This guy will never come to [college],'” UM coach Jim Morris said. “He was a very special player out of high school.”

Grandal has been pretty special at UM, too.

A couple other baseball notes:

David Gutierrez pitched seven perfect innings on Wednesday.

….Morris did something on Wednesday night that he hadn’t contemplated in more than three decades as a coach. With senior righty David Gutierrez pitching a perfect game through seven innings against Florida Gulf Coast, Morris pulled the pitcher from the game. Gutierrez, making his second start of the season after serving as UM’s closer, had already thrown 84 pitches. “You hate to take a guy out like that, but you look at the other side of the coin — what happens if you leave a guy out there and you over-pitch him and he hurts his arm and he’s done for his career?” Morris said. “You can’t really do that even though you’re torn and you want to leave him in.” Reliever Eric Whaley allowed a hit in the eighth inning in UM’s 9-0 victory.

….Jupiter grad Travis Miller has returned from ulnar nerve surgery on his right throwing arm, but has struggled with soreness. Miller, a sophomore who was 3-0 as a part-time starter as a freshman, will likely remain in the bullpen the rest of the season. He’s being groomed for a starting role next season. “It will probably be next year before he’s going to be 100 percent,” Morris said.

….Around 50 scouts are expected for the opener of tonight’s three-game series against North Carolina to watch Grandal and Tar Heels’ starting pitcher Matt Harvey.